Darkest Planet - When the light goes out
by Agent Washintub
Summary: The sun is gone and Nick and his family have to get to Yellowstone National Park before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

Prolog

Seven minutes and fifty six seconds ago our sun disappeared. Of course we wouldn't know for another four seconds, but that doesn't change the fact the we no longer have a sun. And of course the United Nations Star Fleet will deny it, say it's some kind of lunar eclipse or something, but anyone with half a brain has learned to ignore them. I mean, they lied about what they were doing during the war, they lied about how the trial was going so what's to stop them from lying about the sun? One year ago we won a war with the Xandites, an alien race that kept poking at the borders of our solar system. Turns out, in order to win the war we committed xenocide. We killed every man, woman and child of that race and the Council didn't take too fondly to that. So we got put on trial for xenocide, and the charges were pretty hard to deny. But the price if we lost? Our sun.

Six seconds have now passed and there's mass panic, rioting, the whole nine yards. The UNSF is deploying marines to try and calm people down and street lights are being turned on even though it's noon.

* * *

><p>I kick the gas pump in exasperation and immediately regret it. "Shit" I mumble, rubbing my foot. Lucy, our Siberian Husky sniffs it and whines up at me. "Any luck, Nick?" my dad calls over from the other pump.<p>

"Nope" I say. "What about you, Brian?" That's my twin. He's two minutes older than me and never lets me forget it. He simply shakes his head and walks back towards the car. "Damn," Dad says. "This is the fourth gas station so far." We trudge back to the car and drive on towards Yellowstone National Park, one of the only remaining safe havens. It's been one week since the sun disappeared.

…

Two hours later the car sputters to a stop - out of gas. "Looks like we have to walk". That's my mom. She's been pretty quiet ever since we left our house two days ago. I think she's a little traumatised from seeing our house burned by rioters, but then again we all are. We barely got away from the lynch mob. That's what happens when you work on the UNSF's legal team. She had to run three people over in order to do it and looking in the rear view mirror they weren't moving. We all tell her it's not her fault, that she had to do it, that it was them or us but she doesn't buy it. "Let's go. No point in hanging around the car" my older brother Tom says, shouldering his and his girlfriends bag.

"Walk? But I'm in my heels!" exclaims his girlfriend Jessica.

"Must you complain about everything? First it's leaving you make up, then it's the prospect of walking and now it's walking. besides you always wear heels" I say, exasperated.

"Hey!" Brian says. "No one's perfect. Get off her case"

"Why?" I snap back. "It's not like she's your girlfriend. Why are you always on her side? Can't you take my side for once?" Lucy whines at us. She looks back and forth between her two favorite people, confused as to why they're fighting.

"Let's all calm down" my dad says, ever the mediator. "There's no reason to fight."

"Hmmph." I grumble, then start walking. The problem now resolved, Lucy pads after me.

…

My phone is dying. As we walk along the road the "20% remaining" alarm beeps, interrupting my favorit song. "Damn" I mumble. I pause, pulling my gloves off and reaching into my bag to pull out the battery powered charger. "Something wrong?" Mom asks in one of her increasingly rare outbursts.

"My phone's dying" I explain. Now, to your everyday human a dead phone isn't the end of the world. I, however, am not your everyday human and it does seem like the end of the world. You see, I am a junkie and music is my drug. If I go to long without it I get twitchy and irritable. The others pass me up and I end up at the end of our little collum. I insert my now plugged in phone into my bag, scratch Lucy on the head and keep walking.

A few minutes later I hear a rumbling in the distance. At first I think it's my imagination, but shortly Lucy turns around a growls. "What's wrong?" I ask as the rumbling gets loader.

"Sounds like a motorcycle" Tom says, walking back to stand beside me. "By the sound of it it's getting closer. We should hide."

"Well, maybe they'll be able to give us a lift" Jessica pipes up.

"Have you never seen a post-apocalyptic movie?" Brian asks. "Any one besides the main character on a motorcycle can't be trusted"

"for once he speaks out against her" I mumble.

"What was that, Nick?"

"Nothing, kiss ass."

"How about you shut your dyslexic face and show some respect for your elders." He says, getting in my face. Let me get one thing clear. I am not dyslexic. I have dysgraphia and all that means is I have trouble writing by hand.

"Listen, shit face. It's dysgraphia and you damn well know that" I spit.

"Do you two ever stop fighting? For god's sake, cut it out." Dad says in an exasperated tone. "Tom's right. Hiding is a good idea. Think you can handle the grass in your heels, Jessica?"

"Maybe if she had'nt worn heels in the first place…" I mumble.

"What'd I say back at the car?" Brian says, getting in my face again, his breath steaming up the cold air and my glasses. I take them off and wipe them clean. "Guess I've forgotten, monkey breath. Care to remind me?"

"What'd I just say?" Dad asks.

"Stop fighting" we say in unison. We head off into the tall grass at the edge of the road. The sound the wind makes blowing through the dead stalks is beautiful, in a sad sort of way. As we hunker down six bikes speed by. One of the riders looks off to the side and I swear he looks right at me. It must have only been my imagination, because they ride on. We wade back to the road and continue our starlit trek towards Yellowstone.

* * *

><p><strong>Should I continue? Give me your feed back!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

My phone's charged up but I've only got two AA's left for the charger. I've got Red Like Roses II blaring into my ears and don't hear the motors until it's too late. None of us do. In an instant we're surrounded by five men on Harley's, armed with handguns and sawed off shotguns. One addresses the other, clearly the leader. "What should we do with 'em, Dare? Gut 'em like the rest or just steal their shit?".

"I don' know" Dare replies. "Maybe we could have a lil fun with 'em. This un's pretty". He walks up to Jessica and strokes her face. Tom tries to rush him but is held back by the first biker. "Oh. Looks like some un' needs tuh be taught some respect. Axle?" Tom gets a punch in the gut by a third biker and falls to his knees. The bikers laugh. " 'Ave we all learned not tuh fight back?" Dare asks. "Good. Now, I'm in a good mood so you folks get to live. We'll just be takin' yer shit." Axle gestures with his gun and we take our bags off. The first biker grabs my phone. I grab his wrist saying "Give. That. Back."

He rips his hand free walking a little ways away. "Hey, Dare, this un's still got some fight left in 'im. Shall I teach 'im a lesson?"

"If you think it's necessary, Spike." There's the flash of a blade in the headlamps as a knife is drawn. Spike saunters over, brandishing the knife menacingly. "L-let's not do anything rash" I stutter. Spike laughs and cuffs me across the chin, sending my spinning to the edge of the circle of bikes. In the center Dare grabs Jessica's arm and drags her towards the bushes. Before he get's far a battle cry is heard and Brian plunges his knife into Dares side taking him to the ground. He stabs him twice more before grabbing his hand gun and firing wildly at the other bikers who are going through our stuff. Two are hit in the chest and Spike is winged. He and Axle jump on their bikes and tear off into the night. "You'll pay fer this!" Axle spits over his shoulder. We sit in silence. The only sounds are the moans of one of the bikers. Brian jumps up and stalks over to him, raising his gun. "Don't you dare shoot hi-" Dad's words are cut off but two blams and the biker moans no more. In the star light we can all see a grin on Brian's face. The rest of us stare at him in stunned silence. "What?" He says. "He would have died anyway. I was just taking him out of his misery." He throws the gun at dad's feet and starts putting things back in his bag. We slowly do the same and in time move on. I plug my earbuds back in. "It was just fine, we lived in peace, looked too a happy ending!" the song goes, as if nothing had happened.

* * *

><p>"But I saved you!" Brian yells. We turn to look at him walking besides Jessica.<p>

"Yes, and I'm very grateful for that but-"

"No!" Brian interrupts. "I saved you, and this is how you repay me? Fuck you!" He storms off, kicking a rock and sending it flying. It flies into the trees that have sprung up at the edge of the road and hits something. That something moans. Lucy growls at it and runs over. She disappears into the foliage and comes back, whining. "What'd you find, girl?" Tom asks. She barks and leads us off into the trees. A prone shape lying on the ground moans up at us. There's blood every where. "Liz?" I ask. "Is that you?". A moan is the only answer I get. She has bites taken out of her legs and arms and there's a bad scratch on her chest, through which some of her ribs can be seen. "We need to stop the bleeding" Dad says, getting out his med kit. Tom and him worked in the ICU, the first as a paramedic and the second as a surgeon, respectively. Jessica throws up off to the side as Tom and Dad apply bandages. "She's barely conscious. Tom, inject her with some morphine, then prep. her for field surgery. Nick, find branches to hang the lanterns from and make them a brite as possible. Lindsay, Brian looks like he's going to lose his lunch and Jessica already has. See to them." We all hop to our assigned tasks. Dad and Tom struggle to stop the bleeding and get her stitched up. The "day" wears on and an hour later they give up. "All we can go is give her more morphine" Dad says. "I'll try and wake her. See if we can do anything to make her comfortable. Tom, hand me some of the adrenaline." When he gets the needle he plunges it into Liz' arm and she wakes with a start. "They're coming. We have to run!" she shouts.

"Liz, it's fine, you're safe." I say, rushing to her side. "Who's coming?"

"The wolves" she says, bursting into tears. "They got Hunter." Lets have some backstory, shall we? Liz is my friend from school. She's a grade below me and I've had a crush on her for as long as I've known her. My other friend, Hunter, snapped her up before I could build the courage to ask her out and they've been dating happily for the two years since. Anyways, back to the story:

"What wolves?" Jessica asks shakily. That's when a howl pierces the air, followed by several more, almost surrounding us. "I just had to ask, didn't I?" Jessica moans.

"We'll be fine, but we have to start moving." Tom says.

"She can't be moved" Dad replies.

"Then we leave her." We all stare at Brian incredulously.

"Leave her!?" I exclaim. "Are you crazy?"

"What's the matter? She's slowing us down and it's us or her. What do you have a problem with?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe with leaving our friend to be eaten by wolves? Does no one else see a problem with that!?"

"Nick, I know it feels wrong but Brian has a point" Mom hesitantly says.

"No! I'm not leaving her!"

"What, are you in love with her?" Brian asks sarcastically.

"What a mature thing to ask." I say. "How about you shut your face, you pig shit."

"Go shove it, you dyslexic tard"

"What did I fucking say!? I'm not dyslexic! You know that!" I scream in his face.

"Well, you guys can do what you want, but I'm not staying. Liz, it's been fun, but I value my life more than yours" Jessica says getting up and walking off. Tom looks between her and Liz before following. One by one they all get up and leave. Dad's the last one to go. "Here" he says, handing me a shotgun. "I took it from the bikers we… ran into. I hope you'll come find us". I watch them walk off in stunned silence. "Nick" Liz croaks. "Go with them."

"No" I answer back fiercely. "I'm not leaving you to the wolves." I start to build a fire talking as I go. "I'll light the bushes around me when Mom and the others get far enough away, scaring the wolves. Then when they do come at us I'll shoot them." Liz looks up at me, blood oozing from a bite in her thigh. "Nick, I'm a goner. I've come to grips with it. Leave" she says calmly.

"No!" I shout back, tears in my eyes. "I'm not leaving you! Let the wolves come." I say, a fire crackling beside me. "I'll kill them all and then fix you up. I've still got my med kit. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

"Nick, if Tom and your Dad couldn't help me what makes you think you can? Just go."

"Shut up!' I scream as I light the dry leaves around us. "I couldn't. And it's too late now!" I laugh. The fire engulfs the foliage around us greedily. Liz struggles into a sitting position against a log and watches. The ground around her is stained in blood and she's as pale as a sheet. At the edge of the fire light twelve wolves circle. The fire spreads out in a ring around us, turning the cold air hot. To our right the woods burn all the way to the road, fifty feet off. This leaves an opening for the wolves and they take it. As the wolves some closer I cock the shotgun.

…

"I hope he's ok" I say, looking back at the smoke rising over the trees. "There's no way he's in control of that fire." We all stop and look back the way we came. "He chose to stay" Brian says. "If he dies it's his own damn fault. But since when have you cared for people who save others?"

"Listen, Brian. You saved me and I'm thankful for that but-"

"No" he interrupts me. "Shut your whore mouth. You owe me."

"Don't you dare talk to my girlfriend that way." Tom says, turning menacingly towards Brian.

"Or what, Tom? That bitch owes me and you know it." Tom pulls back his fist to swing a Brian but David grabs it. "That's enough. Brian, stop picking fights with people. Tom, he's just trying to rile you up. Don't listen to him." We continue on and the minutes turn into hours, the hours into one day and then another. One "night" as we're preparing to bed down a car rumbles to a stop beside us. David pulls out a gun and points it at the car. "Who ever's in there'd better keep driving. We don't want any trouble."

"That's no way to speak to your third born, Dad" Nick says as he climbs out, Lucy at his heels.

"Oh my god, Nick!" Lindsay shouts, running up and hugging him. "How did you survive? Where did you get this car? And what happened to Liz?" At hearing this last question Nick bursts into tears. "She didn't make it" He says, sitting down. We gather around to hear the story. "Nick's had a long couple of days" David says. "We should give him time to recover."

"There's a lot of supplies here. Where'd you get them, cry baby?" Brian says from over by the car. "What did I just say, Brian? Nick's been through a lot and we should give him time to recuperate. We'll save all the questions for tomorrow."

"Whatever" Brian grumbles, slamming the car door. As Nick sniffles the rest of us bed down in our sleeping bags and drift off to sleep.

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><p><strong>What do you think? Tell me! I'll try to get a new chapter out every two weeks.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Tom, Jessica, Mom and Dad gather around me to hear my story. We're munching on a breakfast of bacon and eggs, courtesy of Tom's exceptional cooking skills and the supplies from the car. Brian picks idly through the supplies in said car, more interested in stuff then people. "So, what happened?" Jessica asks impatiently. "Let's hear it."

"Give him some time. Like I said last night he's had a rough time." Dad says.

"No" I say with a sigh. "I'm ready to tell you. After you all rudely left me…

After the first wolf is blasted back the others kept their distance, attempting to surround me and get to Liz. I keep myself between them and her, eyes darting back and forth. They slowly move in closer before leaping as one. I get two shots off before swinging the gun into a third wolf's head, stunning it. I finish it off with a quick blast before getting tackled by a fourth wolf. The gun flies from my hand, skidding toward the fire. The wolf bites at my neck and for it's effort gets stabbed in the gut several times. It slumps on top of me, trapping me under it's dead wait. I struggle out from under it and hurle my knife at a fifth wolf, hitting it in the side and sending it running for the woods. This leaves one wolf inside the ring of fire and six more outside. The wolf and I circle each other. It growls at me as I edge towards the shotgun. I dive for the gun and the wolf dives for me. It reaches me before I reach the gun, pinning me. I push it's head back as it goes for my neck over and over again. A shape howls at the entrance to my little clearing and then dives for me. I sag, admitting defeat. The wolf's jaws snap inches from my neck before it's thrown off me. There's a flurry of angry grey fur and snarls. I watch in confusion before one shape rises triumphant and turns to look at me, blood dripping from its mouth. It stalks towards me before tackling me to the ground and lunging at my face. I close my eyes and wait for the pain but it doesn't come. I open them and see Lucy. She starts happily licking my face as the remaining wolves enter one by one. I get out from under her and pick up the shotgun. I cock it and point it at the wolves. They look at me before leaving, deciding I'm not worth the effort. I sigh thankfully and look in the chamber. Out of shells. "I did it, Liz." I say turning around. "Liz?". I walk over to her limp form.

"Nick?" is the whisper I get back. "Did you do it?"

"Yes, Liz" I say, taking her in my arms as my eyes well with tears. "We're safe now. All that's left is to fix you up."  
>"Oh, silly Nick. You know that's not possible" she says weakly.<p>

"Yes it is!" I say, not quite believing it. She reaches a hand up and strokes my face, leaving a trail of blood behind. The breath rattles out of her as she goes limp. "Liz? Liz, no don't leave me. Please, Liz, no" I mumble, in tears. Lucy nuzzles my hand, trying to comfort me. I hold the body tight to mine and scream, tears streaming down my face. When I've cried my heart out I stand up. "We can't leave her to the animals" I say numbly to Lucy. "We've got to dispose of the body. Ha. Never thought I'd say that." I gather Liz in my arms and carry her to the fire. Lucy whines as I quickly lay her there and we watch as the flames consume her, me standing and Lucy sitting at my side.

…...

… and after that we left" I say, taking a shaky breath. Mom strokes my arm sympathetically. "You've had a rough couple of days haven't you?"

"So where'd you get the car?" Brian asks, bored.

"I was just getting to that. Is you'd give me a minute I'd tell you. Like I was saying, after Liz's body was gone Lucy and I walked on. We quickly realized that the wolves were following us...

I hold the shotgun close to my chest, very aware that I'm almost out of shells. We round a bend and Lucy growls. I look up and see an SUV stopped at the side of the road with people milling around it. The headlights reflect of the metal of their guns. They've set up camp and the smell of meat wafting off their fire is mouth wateringly good. "We've got to get some of that meat" I say to Lucy. She woofs back in agreement before tensing at the sound of a wolf's howl. The people around the car look up in alarm. "Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone. This way, girl" I say, heading off in the direction of the howl. Lucy follows me nervously.

…

It takes about an hour to find the wolves. They're gathered around the body of a faun, feasting. "Stay here" I whisper to Lucy before heading off into the clearing where the wolves are. I scatter them with a shotgun blast before grabbing the faun and shouting "RUUNNN!", taking off into the woods with Lucy close at my heels. With a snarl the wolves give chase, barling after us. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I say. "This was a bad idea." Charging through the woods in the direction of the SUV and the camp around it, I can just see the fire light. I burst through the foliage into the camp, throw down the faun and grab the meat off the fire. Jumping into the ditch on the other side of the road Lucy and I duck and cover as gunfire peppers the air above our heads. Suddenly the gunfire is replaced by screams and growls. The wolves have found their faun. I peek over the edge of the ditch. Being preoccupied with the wolves, the people have forgotten about me. "Time to go, Lucy" I say as I walk in a crouch towards the car. "Lucy?" I say, looking back at the ditch. She's got her paws over her head, cowering in the mud. "It's time to go" I say, reaching down and grabbing her collar, pulling her towards the car. We get to it and jump in. I feel around for the keys. "Shit." I say when I don't find any. I reach up for the drivers side sun visor. "If it works in the movies…" I mumble as I pull it down and am rewarded with a set of keys. I insert them into the ignition and gun it, shooting off into the night.

…...

"But it couldn't have taken you two days to get here, not with a car. Where were you for those two days?" Tom asks.

"We ran out of gas and had to stop for more. We met this guy named Jeff and some of his friends. They had a nuclear powered bunker."

"Well, why don't we go there?" Jessica asks. "Then we could get out of this damn cold and we wouldn't have to walk as much."

"Because Jeff seemed like a cool guy, but…

The car rattles to a stop. "Out of gas? Come on!" I say flooring the gas pedal. The car lurches forward before stopping again. "We can't leave all these supplies! Damn it. All right, Lucy, it's time to look for some gas. There's gotta be a gas station or a house some where around here." I get out and Lucy follows. "Maybe we're in luck." I say, shouldering an MA1 semi-auto rifle. "Those look like lights." I say heading off through the trees with Lucy following close behind.

…

After a 20 minute hike through the woods we come to fenced in compound. The gate stands ajar and so we let ourselves in. I walk warily up to the door and knock. A slit in the door slides open. "Sup, dude?" a man asks.

"Oh. Um, hi." I say, surprised. "I just need some gas. I've got a car up on the road a ways back that needs a filler up. I can trade supplies if you'd like."

"Nah, dude, that not necessary." The door swings open to reveal a plump man in his early twenties wearing an AC/DC shirt and cargo shorts with a blunt hanging off his lip. "We got stuff to spare. I'm Jeff. Whats your name?"

"I'm… Max" I say quickly.

"Ooh. Fake names. I like it. Come on in. Want a puff?" Jeff steps aside and I walk in.

I decline the blunt with a shake of the head. "Maybe something to eat? We just took a pizza out of the oven. Pepperoni I think."

"If it wouldn't be a bother. Really, though, I should get going." I say as I walk into a kitchen.

"Nonsense. Sit down and eat. Julie! Get Max here a slice of pizza." Julie is skinny, wearing a denim jacket with an eagle painted on the back and torn up jeans. She looks to be about twenty as well. The room is occupied by four other people as well, two men and two women. Everyone is about twenty. Jeff directs me to a couch and I plop down on it before accepting a slice of pizza. "Beer?" Julie asks.

"No. I don't drink" I reply.

"You don't drink and you don't smoke. What do you do for fun?" Jeff asks, grabbing a beer from a fridge.

"Well, I play Xbox" I say. "Assassins Creed, GTA, Minecraft, Halo, that kind of thing."

"Aw, sick." He says, sitting down next to me. "I've got all the Halos. CE, 2, 3, Wars, ODST, Reach, CEA, 4, Spartan Assault, Spartan Strike and 5."

"I've only got 3 through 4." I say, taking a bite. "None of the games after Reach were worth getting."

"So true" he says, taking a swig of beer. "Yo, Aaron. Max needs his car gassed up. Go get it." One of the other men gets up and heads for the door.

"I'll come with" I say, getting up.

"Nope, you're going to stay right here. Aaron will find you car and bring it here." Julie says.

"Fine" I say after a moment. I sit down and take another bite. "So, how'd you get this place, Jeff?"

"My dad had money coming out of his ass" he replies. "He was also an apocalypse freak. Had this nuclear bunker built and stocked with seven years worth of food, water and air. He didn't make it out of our house, though."

"Hm." I say. "You got any Barq's root beer?"

"Nah, only AW" says Julie. She grabs a can from the fridge and pours it into a cup, handing it to me. I take a sip.

"So, do you have anyone else traveling with you?" she asks.

"Yes." I say. "My mom, my dad, my two brothers and one of their girlfriends."

"And where are they?"

"I can't tell you. You might be bad guys."

"Do we really seem like bad guys?" she asks.

"Naw. You gave me pizza."

"So where are they?"

"They're up the road a bit" I slur, frowning. "Man, I'm tired. I think I'm gonna lay down." Lucy sniffs my cup and growls. "Hush" I say. "I'm tryna sleep." I slowly close my eyes and drift off.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what do you think? Tell me. I'm thinking I'm going to publish these as I finish them, not every two weeks.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

No one's really reading this and I can't find the motivation to continue writing, so I'm going to stop. If you want to know the ending message me.


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